Now for a real Corker

The English Market in Cork

The Georgian city was well known for its butchers and abattoirs;
it was once called the Shambles of Ireland. In fact, for all its
neoclassical airs, there would have been a lot of bloody sawdust
around. The bits of meat that weren't sold to ships became the
mainstay of the poor: pigs' feet (crubeens), pigs' heads and all
kinds of offal were popular, and remain so today - over the
centuries a sort of Irish soul food has emerged. To get a sense of
all this, one must visit the English Market. The name should be
explained. The market has been in its present building since the
1780s, but has only been known as the English Market since the
1840s.

Until Emancipation, Catholics were barred from public office,
and the Cork Corporation was exclusively Protestant, largely made
up of the English minority; there was even an organisation called
'the Friendly Club' to keep the upper hand English. When Cork
finally elected a Catholic mayor in 1841, his first act was to
establish a second market in the city, St Peter's on Cornmarket
Street. This became known as the Irish Market and the older one,
although its tradesmen were predominantly Irish Catholics, became
the English Market.